mitt romney had to cancel rallies in the state of maryland a short time ago, calling off the first day of early voting tomorrow. and look at this tonight. it all comes as the latest abc news poll shows this is a dead heat, mitt romney, ahead of president obama by just one point, 49% to 48%. and with a race this tight, a big question tonight -- could the hurricane upend this final stretch? here's abc's senior political correspondent jon karl tonight. >> reporter: it's mother nature's october surprise. a storm so big and so destructive, it could throw the campaign's final week into chaos. >> the storm will throw a little bit of havoc into the race. >> reporter: for president obama, it meant canceling two upcoming events and visiting fema headquarters, vowing an immediate response to the storm. >> we're going to cut through red tape, we're not going to get bogged down with a lot of rules. we want to make sure we are anticipating and leaning forward. >> reporter: there are political stakes, too. a chance for the president to show decisive leadership or to take the blame if the response is